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THER W I N IRWEA D O W FA AND CONSTRUCTION S Specialising in Windows, Doors & Conservatories Are you looking to replace those draughty old windows and doors? Or create more space by adding a conservatory or extension to your home? We are your local home improvement specialists, using only the best quality products, sold at very competitive prices. All products can be ‘A’ rated for extra with a full 10 year guarantee from a FENSA registered company Talk to a tradesman, not a salesman Save Energy - Save Money! call us NOW on 01279 813888 Specialists in Bi-fold Doors • Composite Doors Orangeries • Extensions Unit C Molehall, Cornells Lane, Widdington, Saffron Walden, Essex CB11 3SP [email protected] www.fairweatherwindows.co.uk INDIVIDUAL STYLE YOUR LOCAL BLIND AND SHUTTER SUPPLIER The Family Friendly Golf Venue BLINDS | SHUTTERS | AWNINGS 9 Hole Course 3 Hole Academy Course Adventure Golf Footgolf TopTracer Driving Range Weddings, Events & Much More CALL FOR A FREE ESTIMATE www.stortblinds.co.uk | Tel:01279 504121 Front cover: Stansted Mountfitchet Village Magazine Lower Street Christmas 2019 by Ray Woodcock enhanced by Paul Burt Photography www.stanstedlink.org.uk The Link is published by Stansted Mountfitchet Magazine Community Interest Company and delivered free to nearly 3700 homes and businesses in Stansted. Further copies may be purchased for £1 each or £11.00 per year, plus postage. Each edition is also available on our website. If you do not receive your copy please email: [email protected] or telephone 813680 Editor Distribution Queries Directors Elizabeth Oakley David Horton Mike Dyer (Chairman) 01279 812690 01279 813680 Yvonne Ayres [email protected] [email protected] Susan Bone Catherine Dean Advertising Treasurer and Company Secretary Marion Dyer Mike and Marion Dyer Alan Wheeler Sarah Ludlow-Elston 01279 814059 01279 813745 Elizabeth Oakley [email protected] [email protected] Photographic Consultant Paul Burt CONTENTS Churches Christmas Services 13 Advertising Index to Advertisers 40 Stansted Family Church 14 Fundraising Recycle Ink, Stamps and Toothbrushes 3 Stansted Free Church 15 Salvation Army Appeal 3 Stansted Quaker Meeting 14 Shoeboxes 3 St John's 300 Club 14 Fun and Crossword 7 St John's Church 14 Games Crossword Answers 9 St Theresa's Catholic Church 14 Arthur Quiz 7 Thought for the Month 13 Arthur Quiz Answers 29 Christmas Choosing a real Christmas Tree 25 Health and Brain Training 19 Company at Christmas 2 Wellbeing Hearing Help Stansted Hub 9 Festive Wreath 5 Hypnotherapy and Weight Loss 17 Memories - The Choirmen's Supper 25 Let's talk Stansted! 19 Recycle your Christmas Tree 17 Local BS and District Footpaths 35 Victorian Christmas Cards 5 Roundup Gardens of Easton Lodge 35 Children and Daisy May's Farm 37 Hundred Parishes 29 Families Forest Hall School 36 Letter to the Editor - Crafton Green 9 Magna Carta School 37 Stansted Business Forum 31 Manuden Primary School 36 Stansted Windmill 11 Rainbow Pre-school 37 Stop Stansted Expansion 27 St Mary's Primary School 36 The People of Stansted Remember 15 Clubs and Directory of Clubs & Organisations 38 Features A Blanket on the Bench 33 Community Human Roots 17 Editorial 2 Huw Johnson Club 19 Meet Ken and Janice MacDonald 27 Mountfitchet Garden Club 11 Nature Notes 29 Stansted Day Centre 2 Random Jottings - Language 33 Stansted Evening WI 31 Random Jottings - Greetings and Food 35 Stansted U3A 31 The Link Team - David Horton 11 Stansted U3A Bookclub 31 Sports Stansted Bowls Club 39 Stort Valley Rotary 5 Stansted Cricket Club 39 Uttlesford Foodbank 9 Stansted Football Club 39 Local Council Stansted Network 20-23 Stansted Hall Cricket Club 39 CONTRIBUTIONS Up to 300 words in Word format. Photographs to be sent as separate attachments (jpeg). By email (preferred) to [email protected] by noon on 9th January for the February issue or by hand/post by noon on 7th January to 7 Blythwood Gardens, Stansted CM24 8HG. Note there is no January issue. DISCLAIMER Opinions in The Link reflect those of the authors and contributors. Publication (on paper or electronically) of articles, advertisements or product/services information does not constitute endorsement by The Link nor is any culpability accepted for work undertaken by advertisers. EDITORIAL By the time you receive this issue of The Link, it is our sincerest hope that the second lockdown will be about to end, and we can turn our minds to Christmas and New Year. I must confess to being very sad when I look at our last December issue at the end of 2019, looking at the magical events which so many organisations held to commemorate Christmas, and realising that these cannot take place this year. However, we do have several lovely seasonal articles, with echoes of Christmas past from, for example, Keith Turner (p25) and Tony Wellings on p5. One important and recurring theme through many of the articles this month is that of mental health during this pandemic. Organisations like Let’s Talk Stansted! (p19) are doing so much good to alleviate this. The virus itself produces awful physical symptoms but what is less obvious is the effect on one’s mental wellbeing with all the restrictions that are in place, as well as those associated with long Covid - the long-term effects felt by those who have had the virus. Several articles prescribe a solution which works for many of us: getting as much fresh air and outdoor exercise as possible. Cold weather will not hurt us, so please do not let that put you off. There are so many lovely walking places surrounding the village, as described in the BSDFA article on page 35. Next year will be better; a more predictable and stable administration in the USA will help mend that fractured country. In addition, it seems that there is a successful vaccine on the horizon and it is hoped that we will be back to normal in the Spring of 2021. Meantime, we hope that your festive season will be as merry as possible. With the warmest of good wishes to all of you, take care. 3. Could you be a goody bag packer? • The items purchased by our shoppers need to be packed into individual bags ready for delivery • Would you be able to join a small team of volun- teers who will pack the goody bags? • We would also require a small team of volunteers to help arrange the bags for collection on Christmas Day morning or possibly the days leading up to Christmas Due to Covid-19, Company at Christmas will look dif- • This would be arranged in line with latest Covid-19 ferent this year. Instead of our usual Christmas Day safety protocols meal and festivities in the Bishop’s Stortford Methodist Church Hall, we will be delivering food and If you are interested in any of the roles above, please gifts to our guests who might otherwise be alone at email: [email protected]. There will be rd Christmas. This year there are three ways you can an online meeting to allocate roles on Thursday 3 help: December at 8.00pm. Details on how to join the meet- ing will be sent out by email tothose who register to 1. Could you be a Christmas Day Driver? volunteer. Thank you all very much. • We need volunteers to collect goody bags from a Lynda Dale central location and deliver them to homes in and Tel: 07716 099474 around Bishop’s Stortford on Christmas Day morn- ing or possibly the days leading up to Christmas • This will give the opportunity for a socially dis- tanced conversation on the doorstep with our guests, wishing them a Happy Christmas STANSTED DAY AND • You can decide how much time to offer. One drop- COMMUNITY CENTRE off may take up to 30 minutes but you are welcome to sign up to do more than one if you have time We were delighted to receive free meals from Cook’s Kind- • We would provide suitable instructions and PPE to ness Foundation for our Day Centre customers. Cook is in ensure helpers and guests are kept safe. North Street in Bishop’s Stortford. These will continue until the middle of December, so if any of our customers have 2. Could you be a pre-Christmas Shopper? not yet been offered one, please let me know. Whilst we • Could you help source and buy specific goods (all have been closed, the doors and windows in the Day Centre have been replaced by the Parish Council, for which we are costs reimbursed) for our goody bags? very grateful. We look forward to going back in to a smart, • This would involve being given a list of specific draught-free hall. items to purchase (eg 100 boxes of chocolates) and delivering them to a central location Catherine Dean Tel: 813579 2 SHOE BOXES BISHOP’S STORTFORD www.teams4u.com SALVATION ARMY Due to Covid-19 restrictions, packing boxes was very dif- CHRISTMAS PRESENT APPEAL ferent this year, as we were unable to have our usual Although unable to meet together during the pandemic, we number of volunteers helping. However, due to have still been actively trying to serve the needs of our commu- everyone’s generosity, we were able to send 218 boxes nity. In the March lockdown we helped Operation CommUNITY from Stansted destined for Romania and Belarus. coordinate volunteers to complete over 1,200 errands, such as supermarket shopping. Since then we have been approached to provide essential items for people who are struggling; carpets, appliances, children’s winter boots etc. Despite the challenges to fundraising, we have been blessed with enough finances to keep these things going and, in all things, we have hope! However, as we head towards Christmas we already know of families needing help.